The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-08-17
THE FIRST NUGGET.
A RELIC OF CALIFORNIA;
GREAT GOLD DISCOVERY.
1t is Now Kept in San Francisco
jealousy Guarded by Woman
for Twenty Years-How
1t Was Found, Etc.

one of the glass cases of the State Min
eralogical Bureau is small gilded cast
representing gold nugget. A card
underneath designatcs it as model OF
the first gold nugget found in Cali
fornia.
The eye of the strolling reporter was
caught by this announcement, as he
FASTENED to make inquiry of Secretary
burden as to the possible truthfulness Of
of the statement and the genuineness OF
the relic. Mr.. Durdon stated that he
had every reason to be convinced that
the cast was from the original nugget
now in possession of the city.
Mr.. Allen, when called upon, said:
eyes, have in my possession what l
have no doubt is the original gold mug
get found in 1S4S by Marshall and Wem-
mer in the tailracc of the Coloma saw
mill. have held the valuable relic In
trust for the Wemmers since 1877.
Sin that year 1 was engaged by some
settlers upon some disputed lands in the
southern portion of Los Angeles County
to contest their claims. One afternoon
while in their colony ran across very
old man, named Peter Wemmer, bent al
most double with age, but withal a very
intelligent fellow, whose mind and men,
ory were singularly clear. Our CONVEX
sation drifted from law to generalities,
and found him an exceedingly interest
ing character, with memory stored with
many "reminiscences. He told me he was
one of the oldest pioneers, and also that
he was with Marshall when he picked up
the famous gold nugget. He added cas-
ually that his wife still had the nugget
in her possession.
"a few days later my wife and drove
out to his place. When | requested to
see the nugget Mrs. Wemmer became
somewhat excited, and finally, upon my
pressing my request, she took from her
dress bundle of cloth, wrapped tight,
and perhaps larger than my fist, it being
suspended by a string around her neck.
The old woman, trembling with excite
ment, proceeded to take out the number
less pins and unwrap the bundle. Roll
after roll was unwound, and finally she
reached tightly folded stocking. This
she slowly unwound from a hard sub
stance, which finally she laid in the palm
of my hand.
"It was the nugget.
"sWife has carried that ball around her
neck day and night for over twenty
years. said Mr.. Wemmer. 4 guess
you are the first she has ever let touch
it for many years
'.It is the same that I now show you,"
said Mr.. Allen, passing to the elorter
the lump of gold.
It was small, almost fiat and a rather
rough piece of gold, just one inch across
its longest way. 1t was quite thin
around the outer fange, with con-
siderable depression on one side. 1t
weighs between third and quarter of
an ounce, and contains $5.05 worth of
gold.
"When we left these old people," con-
tinued Mr.. Allen, "Mrs. Wemmer placed
the nugget in my hand and begged NE
to take it with me and put it in some safe
place-a bank or safe. She said she was
almost afraid to keep so valuable relic
longer herself. So took it, and it has
been with me ever since"
The Wemmers crossed the plains to
California in 1S46. While living at Sut-
ter's Fort they made the acquaintance of
James Marshall. He came to their cabin
sick and was taken in and cared for by
Mrs. Wemmer. Afterward Colonel SUIT
ter suggested to Wemmer the project of
building the sawmill on the American
river. They accepted, and with gang
men went up to the designated spot.
Wemmer was millwright of the eypedi-
tion and Marshall was foreman of the
work.
Mrs. Wemmer was cook, and all the
men employed boarded with her. They
first built a dam across the river, and
from this sluice was run. In digging
out the river bed for the mill the dam
would be closed and the dirt would be
shoveled into the sluice. At night the
water would be turned on and the earth
washed away. 1t was not long before
numbers of bright specks were noticed
sticking in the crevices of the sluicc in
the morning when the water was turned
of, and discussion arose among the pco-
pie of the camp as to what those bright
specks were. Mrs. Wemmer had lived for
some time in the Georgia Gold mines,
and she pronounced them gold. This
theory was pooh-poohed by the men, in
Guiding Marshall. One morning Mar
shall and Wemmer went out early to shut
off the water in the sluice. They were
walking down the tailracc, when Mar
shall suddenly stopped and picked up
something from the box.
"There, Wemmer," he said, "what do
you call that!"
Wemmer took the piece of metal,
glanced at it, and said:
That certainly is gold"
"Well, it looks like it, confess" re-
Joined Marshall. 'It looks much more
like the real stuff than anything we have
seen yet"
Wemmer's boy, lad of 10 or 10, had
come up just at that moment. and Wem-
mer gave him the nugget, saying: Take
this to your mother and tell her to boil
it in the soap kettle"
Mrs. Wemmcr was at that time making
soft soap, which, you know, is done by
boiling old bones and grease with ashes
and forming a strong alkaline solution.
She threw the nugget into the boiling
mixture. The next morning at breakfast
conversation REQUIRED to the incident of
the finding of the nugget, and Mrs.
Wemmer was asked what she had done
with it.
"I'll fetch it" she said. She ran out
back to the log which had been followed
out, and into which she had poured the
soap. From the bottom of this she drew
out the nugget. She carried it to the